Setting default window manager

[p.t....@gmail.com]

I'm running 1.6.0 (build 12/24/2015) on a CentOS 7.2 system. I use xinetd to spawn sessions to users on demand. I've slowly been working through the problems that RHEL introduced with 7.2 and GNOME 3.14.

The main problem that I have left on my plate before I can update my systems is the fact that the new GNOME screen lock can't be unlocked. (Sure you can call an admin and use the loginctl function but that isn't too practical in the middle of the night!) I've installed KDE and want to allow the users to switch to KDE as a default desktop. But I can't get the system to honor the contents of the ~/.vnc/xstartup file.

The contents of the /home/pat/.vnc/xstartup file (mode 777) is currently:
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
exec /usr/bin/startkde

Yet every time that I connect via VNC (using either vncviewer or the TightVNC client, I get the default GNOME desktop. Can somebody tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!
Pat

[Pierre Ossman]

On Wed, 3 Feb 2016 09:06:07 -0800 (PST)
p.t....@gmail.com wrote:

> I'm running 1.6.0 (build 12/24/2015) on a CentOS 7.2 system. I use
> xinetd to spawn sessions to users on demand. I've slowly been working
> through the problems that RHEL introduced with 7.2 and GNOME 3.14.
>
> The main problem that I have left on my plate before I can update my
> systems is the fact that the new GNOME screen lock can't be unlocked.

Gnome used to have that bug, but it got fixed. Perhaps it's made a
comeback. :/
Anyway, it's a gnome problem and how it delegates authorisation between
the screen saver and GDM. I'm afraid you'll have to file a bug with
them.
Until then, I suggest simply turning the screen saver off. That should
be possible to do globally using some dconf tool.

> (Sure you can call an admin and use the loginctl function but that
> isn't too practical in the middle of the night!) I've installed KDE
> and want to allow the users to switch to KDE as a default desktop.
> But I can't get the system to honor the contents of the
> ~/.vnc/xstartup file.

If you are using xinetd then you are most likely using XDMCP, which
means that ~/.vnc/xstartup is not used. Rather the session is started
by your display manager (usually GDM).

What does your xinetd configuration look like?

Rgds
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A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?

[p.t....@gmail.com]

Thanks, Pierre! I didn't realize that the xstartup wasn't used with XDMCP.

Here is the xinetd configuration that I'm using for my testing:
service vnc
{
type = unlisted
disable = no
flags = REUSE
socket_type = stream
port = 5902
wait = no
user = root
protocol = tcp
server = /usr/bin/Xvnc
server_args = -desktop VNC-Remote-Access -inetd -query localhost -once -terminate -depth 16 -geometry 1024x768 -securitytypes none
log_on_failure += USERID
}

And here is the contents of the /etc/gdm/custom.conf file
[daemon]
RemoteGreeter=/usr/libexec/gdm-simple-chooser
[security]
AllowRemoteRoot=true
DisallowTCP=false
[xdmcp]
Enable=true
DisplaysPerHost=4
[greeter]
[chooser]
[debug]

[Brian Hinz]

On Thu, Feb 4, 2016 at 11:49 AM, wrote:

Thanks, Pierre! I didn't realize that the xstartup wasn't used with XDMCP.

Take a look at /etc/sysconfig/desktop (at least that's where it is on el6) and/or ~/.dmrc for setting the default window manager on a global or per-user basis.

-brian

[family....@gmail.com]

Sigh... nothing's ever easy. :-)

Thanks for the information. I'm going to have to think about this one. If I change the desktop file then I'm forcing everyone to use a default of KDE which isn't what I want to do. Unfortunately our home directories are mounted from a file server which is configured to use NTFS permissions. So all of the home directories look like they have 777 permissions even though they don't. But that causes all sorts of problems with the .dmrc file.

Maybe I'll just go ahead and disable the screen saver until they get the lock problem solved.

Thanks for your help!
Pat